Follow the money and sludge

Sunday

Feb 23, 2014 at 12:01 AM

Until a federal investigation is complete, we won’t know the extent to which state regulators failed in their duty to protect the environment from coal ash spills. But we do know they failed, evident by the massive spill from a Duke Energy ash lagoon that has tainted 70 miles of the Dan River this month.

Until a federal investigation is complete, we won’t know the extent to which state regulators failed in their duty to protect the environment from coal ash spills. But we do know they failed, evident by the massive spill from a Duke Energy ash lagoon that has tainted 70 miles of the Dan River this month.We also don’t know yet the extent to which money, politics and Duke’s clout as the nation’s largest electric utility may have influenced the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ regulation of coal ash ponds across the state. But by following events so far, we get a picture of a regulatory relationship gone awry between the DENR and Duke. Facts we do know so far:u Feb. 2: A pipe running under a coal ash pond collapsed at Duke’s shuttered Dan River Steam Station, spilling 50,000 to 82,000 tons of coal ash mixed with 27 million gallons of contaminated water. The spill went on for six days before the pipe was plugged, coating the bottom of the Dan River with toxic ash up to 70 miles downstream.u Feb. 9: The Associated Press published a report showing the DENR had blocked environmentalists’ lawsuits against Duke on three occasions by intervening at the last minute to assert its own authority, effectively shielding the utility from stiffer federal fines. The AP report showed how, after negotiating with the utility’s lawyers behind closed doors, the state proposed a settlement that would allow Duke to settle violations at coal ash dumps near Asheville and Charlotte for $99,111 — a pittance for a company worth $50 billion. That deal included no requirement that Duke clean up its pollution.u Feb. 10: DENR officials asked a judge to put the proposed settlement on hold while it conducted a comprehensive review of all coal ash facilities in the state. The same day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh issued the first two grand jury subpoenas in a probe of the Feb. 2 spill and the state’s oversight of Duke’s 30 other coal ash dumps in the state.u Tuesday: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a report documenting a 5-foot-deep “coal ash bar” 75 feet long and 15 feet wide near the spill site. The report said the bottom of the Dan River is coated with coal ash up to 70 miles from the spill site, threatening fish and mussels, according to the Los Angeles Times. The same day, the DENR announced it had detected elevated levels of arsenic from a second cracked pipe spilling coal ash at the Dan River plant.u Wednesday: Federal prosecutors confirmed they have issued 20 subpoenas since Feb. 11 compelling DENR employees to testify before a grand jury. The new subpoenas seek documents related to the scuttled $99,111 settlement and the agency’s regulation of Duke’s coal ash dumps before the Feb. 2 spill.DENR officials initially downplayed the seriousness of the spill, saying arsenic levels were within safety standards. But environmental groups have produced test results that they say show levels of arsenic, lead and other toxic heavy metals in the river far above state safety standards, according to the L.A. Times.DENR Secretary John Skvarla was appointed last year by Gov. Pat McCrory, who worked more than 28 years for Duke and still holds more than $10,000 in its stock. Skvarla has decreed that industries his agency regulates be treated as “customers,” but he denies that his agency cooked up a deal that would allow Duke to pay minimal fines and avoid stiffer federal penalties.The facts argue otherwise. If the DENR was attempting, as Skvarla says, to settle with Duke quickly to “get to the endgame: getting these coal ash ponds cleaned up,” why did the deal not require coal ash to actually be removed from the Asheville and Charlotte sites?

Just as environmentalists have tracked the dark plume of coal ash 70 miles downstream in the Dan River, we must follow the federal investigation to see where it leads. Wherever that may be, it is clear that Duke Energy must restore the river it has fouled.And it is up to the people and our legislators to demand that coal ash dumps be cleaned up and moved away from rivers, highways and homes where they pose an ongoing threat to the environment and public safety and health.

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